Legal Feeding Frenzy Kicks Off March 5 in Charlotte

Legal Feeding Frenzy Kicks Off March 5 in Charlotte

Volunteers take a break from packing backpacks at the Feeding Frenzy kickoff.

The Young Lawyers Division of the North Carolina Bar Association, in conjunction with the North Carolina Association of Feeding America Food Banks, is proud to present the 2015 North Carolina Legal Feeding Frenzy.

The Feeding Frenzy will take place March 9-27, with the awards ceremony scheduled Wednesday, April 22, at the N.C. Bar Center in Cary beginning at 3 p.m.

Official kickoff for this event is scheduled Thursday, March 5, at 1 p.m. at the Second Harvest Food Bank of Metrolina, located at 500 Spratt Street in Charlotte.

Following the press conference, YLD volunteers will partner with the Charlotte Women Attorneys to pack backpacks in conjunction with the Feeding America BackPack Program. The program provides food for children on school lunch and school breakfast programs, so that they can have sufficient nourishment over the weekend.

Media representatives are urged to attend.

Attorney General Roy Cooper is serving as honorary chair of the event for the third year and will be on hand for the kickoff, where he will be joined by fellow NCBA member and the mayor of Charlotte, Dan Clodfelter.

Cooper will also present the awards, including the Attorney General’s Cup to the overall champion, at the awards ceremony.

“North Carolina continues to have one of the highest rates of food insecurity in the nation, especially among our children,” said Alan Briggs, executive director of N.C. Association of Feeding America Food Banks. “Our state's food bank network is the largest private sector hunger relief organization in the state. Each week we provide the food to over 160,000 people; the equivalent to feeding everyone in Asheville, Chapel Hill and Elizabeth City every week.

“We deeply appreciate the N.C. Bar Association and the Young Lawyers Division for helping meet this need by conducting the annual Legal Feeding Frenzy. Now in its fourth year, this friendly competition has become one of the most significant statewide fundraising events for our food banks. We look forward to working with our ‘law partners’ to make this year's event the most successful ever.”

The competition between North Carolina law firms and organizations will collect food and funds for food banks across North Carolina. Competition is divided into categories of Sole Practitioner (1-10 employees), Small Firm (11-50 employees), Medium Firm (51-100 employees), Large Firm (more than 100 employees) and Law School.

The overall champion and recipient of the Attorney General’s Cup, and the recipient in each category, is the team that raises the most food and money per employee. There will also be an award for the team that raises the most food and money overall, regardless of the number of team members.

“Last year’s Legal Feeding Frenzy generated nearly 350,000 pounds of food through donations of food items and money, and we’re aiming to generate even more this year,” Loftis said. “All donations of food and money go to benefit the contributing team’s local food bank, so the impact of the project is felt close to home. “

Registration for this year’s Legal Feeding Frenzy, Loftis added, is open. Project information and the registration page are available at nclegalfeedingfrenzy.com. Teams that register before March 9 get a 100-pound bonus for purposes of the competition.